Presently, electronic devices used for data processing and communication, are made more portable and aesthetic. Examples of electronic devices include mobile phones, computers, laptops, Personal Digital Assistants, palmtops, portable gaming devices, and the like. Electronic devices have been made portable in part by reducing the size of various data input and output devices that are in-built in the electronic devices. Most of the electronic devices use keypads as data input devices. A keypad includes at least a key panel, an actuator panel, and a dome panel that is electrically coupled to a printed circuit board. The keypad further includes a backlighting module for illuminating the key panel. Examples of the backlighting module include, but are not limited to, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED), and an Electroluminescent (EL) panel. The electronic device can be made aesthetic by changing the key panel style or color, the backlighting color, and other aspects of the electronic device.
In existing keypads, the key panel is coupled to a carrier film. The key panel is placed above the actuator panel and the dome panel, which is present below the actuator panel. The backlighting module, such as the EL panel, is coupled to another carrier film and then adhered on the printed circuit board.
However, the existing keypad suffers from the disadvantage of being thick because of the presence of different carrier layers for the key panel and the EL panel. Moreover, due to the presence of the EL panel below the actuator panel and the dome panel, the actuators on the actuator panel and domes on the dome panel will be visible through a clear key panel. Unfortunately, this may be undesirable if aesthetics were to require a clear key panel. Furthermore, changing the key panel and the EL panel require undesirable extensive modifications in the printed circuit board of the keypad because the EL panel is adhered to the printed circuit board.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.